Rising Tensions
by SlyMisterFox
Summary: When Talon supplies the Los Muertos gang with some heavy weaponry, Jack and Ana go in to stop the gang from taking over Dorado, unknowingly walking into a trap. When Talon sets a killer omnic on the loose however, it becomes more than two sides fighting against each other, it becomes a fight for their own survival. (Reviews are appreciated!)
1. Chapter 1: A deadly scheme

Everybody wanted something. Toddlers wanted that jar of cookies on top of the refrigerator. Soldiers wanted to go home to their families. Conquers wanted nations under their control. Polly wanted a cracker. And Sombra? She wanted world domination. Well, after a fashion. Somewhere out there, somebody was pulling all the strings. And if Sombra could find him or her, she could control them. Everybody had a weakness. Not even Sombra was flawless. She had a good poker face though.

On that particular evening, Sombra hadn't had anything planned for the new year. She'd spent the previous night having a few drinks, a few seats away from an american drunk cowboy dressed in a red poncho with a stupid belt. Now, she was walking around in her pajamas, running her hands through her hair as she got up for the first time that day, at seven o'clock in the evening. She wouldn't have woken up at all, but she'd gotten a call from Reaper. He was, technically, her supervisor, in a way. For a supervisor though, he was pretty blind to what she did. Or at least, he appeared to be. To anybody else, Reaper looked to simply be a dangerous terrorist. But there was more to him than that, beneath that owl skull mask lied a tortured soul. Doubtless, any single woman would find a brooding man like Reaper attractive, wanting to wrap him up in their arms and kiss him, at least, until they saw his face. Sombra had never seen it before herself, but apparently, both Moira and Doomfist had, and it was not a pretty sight.

As Sombra slipped on a shirt and grabbed a nearby bag of chips, she noticed a flicker of movement in the corner of her eyes. She turned slightly to face the corner of her room. Sombra's "base" was very small, as in, it was really just a shed with outlets, a bed, a desk and some computers. The only light was the purple glow from the computers, and thanks to the light, Sombra could see what looked like living shadow in the corner of Sombra's room. She instantly knew what- or, more accurately, who- it was.

"Hey, Gabe. I didn't think you'd be here so soon." The shadows emerged and took shape before Sombra into a physical form, that of a tall, muscled man clad in black bulletproof armour and a long, sleek black coat with a hood over his owl skull mask. Secretly, Sombra was very creeped out by the fact that Reaper could literally blend in the with the shadows in her room, but she was doing a very good job of looking bored.

"Get ready," was all he said before he stepped outside to wait.

"Could have told me what you woke me up for," Sombra grumbled as she put on her sleek purple leather jacket. She attended to her hair for about five minutes and applied makeup for the next ten. Overall it took her nearly 25 minutes for her to get ready. Months ago, this would have enraged Reaper, but now, he was used to it. This was shown in the way that he patiently waited for Sombra outside, staring straight ahead at the gleaming bronze statue of Guillermo Portero as though he wanted to destroy it. Or perhaps he was thinking sunny, cheerful thoughts. Sombra didn't really know. She didn't even know if Reaper could do happy. The only emotions she'd seen from her boss was rage. Beyond that though, his usual state of mind was in brooding mode.

She stepped outside and took in a deep whiff of the morning air. Reaper was waiting by a pair of stone steps that would lead down to the street below. Sombra took a look at the statue. Years ago, she'd easily brought the corrupt CEO of LumériCo for the Los Muertos gang, which she'd been a part of until her early twenties. It had been an easy task to act the part of the sweet innocent girl bringing the sheriff some cookies while she hacked his computer by sliding her hand across the back. Ah, memories.

Sombra jogged over to Reaper, and together, the pair strode down the stone steps in silence. On the street, a long, sleek black limo was waiting for them. The chauffeur, an elderly African american man with graying hair and an easy smile, opened the door for them. Reaper ducked his head as he entered, but Sombra didn't really have to, she was short.

Inside, Akande Ogundimu, aka Doomfist, sat waiting in a surprisingly casual outfit; a simple buttoned black shirt and jeans with black sandals. Instead of the Doomfist gauntlet, he had a skeletal metal arm attached, the hand of which was gripping a glass of water. Beside him sat Widowmaker in her usual skintight suit, and sitting on Sombra's side, rather uncomfortably next to the man who nearly tried to kill him, was Hakim.

Hakim had olive skin and muddy green eyes, with black hair that was slicked back and shaved at the sides. He was dressed better than all of them, in a rich black Italian suit with a golden tie. He tried to stare straight ahead as Reaper took a seat next to him, but Sombra could see beads of sweat starting to form on his forehead. Months ago, upon his failure to capture the Shrike (aka Ana Amari), Reaper had very nearly killed him. However, Akande stepped in, saying this would be a waste of talent. Hakim was, like Sombra, a hacker, though nowhere nearly as good. He mainly looked out for things that could possibly interfere with Talon's operation, such as the Shrike, or her more viscous partner, Soldier 76.

"Sombra," Akande said with a polite nod. "I trust you had a decent rest?"

"As best as I could, with this guy watching me in the dark," Sombra said, jerking her head towards Reaper. Reaper ignored her.

"Okay," Akande said. That was what he usually said to Sombra. Reaper and Widowmaker usually got annoyed at Sombra's sarcastic and mocking nature, but Akande didn't react to it at all. It was rather unsettling. "As we all know, two former agents of the Overwatch, Ana Amari and Jack Morrison, have been causing trouble for us for quite some time. Now, thanks to Sombra, we know that Jack has had his eye on the Los Muertos gang for some time. He would have taken them down, were it not for our activities in the Middle East, thus, he came to hunt us down." Akande paused to smile, as if Jack Morrison were a meddlesome mouse that was simply nipping at the paws of a lion. And in a way, that was almost true. Almost. Akande was a giant among men, with an impressive set of biceps. With the Doomfist gauntlet, he could kill a man in one punch, but even without it, several bones would be broken from just his bare fist.

"However, I have very recently 'loaned' our friends in Mexico some particularly heavy weaponry. This should draw both of the vigilante's attention away from us. Meanwhile, Reaper and Sombra, I would like for you to take the chance to shadow the pair, and to strike at an opportune moment. Widowmaker, Hakim, I have a different task for you both." Akande's voice was deep and powerful, and he spoke slowly, clearly enunciating every word in that thick african accent of his. "But, we will discuss that at a later time. Sombra, you will work here from your base. Your job will be simple: you will sever the radio connection between Jack and Ana. Gabriel, you know your former friend best. How will he approach?"

"Jack's like me," Reaper answered. "He'll stick to the shadows… But I'm better at that to him." _Yes, because you can literally blend into the shadows,_ Sombra thought. "Judging from the bodies he left behind in Dorado last time, he doesn't have any intention of leaving them alive."

"That is no concern of mine," Akande said. "Although, perhaps it would be beneficial to see the survival of these various gangs. Perhaps they could be useful in the grand scheme of things. Try to stop Jack before he takes too many." Reaper nodded silently.

"What about the granny?" Sombra said with a yawn, resting her head against the window. Her eyes were half closed, which she wasn't faking, she hadn't gotten a whole heap of sleep last night.

"I will take care of that," Akande said. Sombra knew what that meant. He wouldn't be going personally, whenever he did, he always cracked his knuckles. Since he wasn't cracking them now, it meant he would send a Talon squad over. "The captain has evaded our grasp for too long. I will not send some measly recruits. This is a professional, and thus she must be dealt with professionally. I will send something a little… Bigger. Perhaps X137 shall suffice." Sombra winced. He wasn't sending the Talon squad… He was sending death.

A month ago, Talon had picked up a signal in a field near the Black forest, in Germany. It was an Omnic, an old orange camoed OR14 unit, to be precise, a centaur-like omnic with a red hot blade hidden in one arm and and a triple barrel LMG serving as the other limb. Talon had added an extra something however; on the bottom of it's four legs were small thrusters, not meant to make the omnic fly by any rate, but it would allow it to jump especially high. Sombra had been orphaned by the omnic crisis. She hated this monstrosity. Even deactivated, the thing scared her. Talon had reprogrammed it to serve them, and had taken all the other deactivated bastions and OR14's (as well as several other omnic units) from the fields to take them apart for scrap. Who knew what they'd build with it all.

"Now, Sombra, if you would be so kind as to leave, we will drop Gabriel off and then be on our way."

"Good luck on your mission, blue pepe," Sombra said with a wink to Widowmaker. Widowmaker dug her fingernails into her arm and bit her lip, a hateful fire dancing in her eyes. Sombra laughed as she exited the limo. It peeled off, and Sombra walked back up the stone steps, alone.

* * *

"Shit, man, look at this fuckin' thing."

Hidden in the clouds, a Talon airship filled with six Talon mercenaries awaited the instructions of their commander, Reaper. They were dressed in black combat camo pants and bulletproof vests, with red lensed silver skull masks hiding their faces. Three of them were equipped with laser sighted assault rifles, two of them with laser sighted shotguns, and one with a sniper rifle. They were sitting as far as they could away from the deactivated OR14 unit, which towered over them, looking truly menacing. The fact that it was deactivated brought little comfort. Still, it was on their side.

"That thing's gonna tear the old lady apart," another merc said with a low whistle. "I'd hate to be her when that thing lands."

"Well, it'll only be used if she takes us out, so let's not get taken out, guys."

"I've heard stories of the Shrike," one of them said. "I heard she took down Reaper."

"Wasn't he distracted by Soldier 76?"

"Oh… Right."

"She's an old lady and missing an eye, but that doesn't mean her aim is off. There's six of us though, and we should be dropping right on top of her, or near her, at least." The merc speaking peeked out the window, down below at the passing rooftops of Dorado. "We should be there soon. Assuming Sombra's calculations are correct, we'll be landing directly on top of an automobile repair shop, which rises just higher than a storage unit that serves as a Los Muertos base, one of them, at least. Since they'll be camping inside a building, the Shrike will have to get closer than she's accustomed to."

"That's right," Reaper's voice fizzled in the merc's ear. "And the airship is almost there. Do not underestimate _her._ It'll be the last thing you ever do. And if you fail, you might as well blow your brains out."

"Yes sir," the merc said. He took a deep breath. He glanced at the deactivated OR14 again. He tightened his grip around the sniper rifle.

* * *

Just as Reaper had predicted, Soldier 76 was on the streets, watching the Los Muertos base from across the street. One of them was outside, smoking a cigarette while he disassembled his gun. Disassembling his gun, on guard duty. Idiot. The gang member's customary phosphorus paint on his face, arms and neck, revealing a skeletal design and illuminating him clearly with a purple glow.

Nine years ago, the Los Muertos gang had omnic members with them, but ever since they'd tossed out the president of LumériCo, their purpose had changed, though they denied it. Uneasy tensions between the omnic members and human members eventually came to a boiling point due to the omnic war. Apparently, some of the human members felt as though the Omnic members might go haywire, killing them all. Eventually, this dispute erupted in a gunfight, with a few of the human members fighting with their omnics. The result wasn't pretty, dozens of smoking omnic corpses were found by the police by dawn. Now, there wasn't a single Los Muertos omnic to be found.

"Ana, help me out. There's a soldier out front. He's dissembling his gun, the idiot. I could run across the street and take him out, but I don't want him to yell and alert the others, and it would take unnecess-"

"Alright, shut it," Ana interrupted him. A second passed. Two. Then, suddenly, there was a faint whistling sound as a syringe flew threw the air, hitting the man in the neck. The liquid emptied itself in the man's neck, and his eyes bulged out of his head. He stood up, took a step forward and shuddered terribly before collapsing over the table. Parts of his disassembled gun clattered to the floor. Soldier 76 snuck across the street, carrying his rifle in his hands. He could hear techno music, as well as lots of chatter, coming from within the base. It must've been a lot of guys.

"Ana, how many are there?" He hissed.

"A lot," Ana said obviously. "I'd say about fifteen or so, maybe more. I don't have a bird's eye view, so some of them might be out of my line of sight."

"Only 15 or so?" Jack mused. "Almost seems unfair… For them." Jack ran across the street, trying to keep low. The only sentient beings nearby was an old homeless man in a box, who curiously peeked at Jack from underneath his ragged blanket, joined by a pair of yellow feline eyes.

"Ana, can you check the door that I'm at?"

"Yes. There's a man leaning against the wall next to it, but you're both hidden behind a shelf stocked with guns. If you're quick, you can get him without alerting the others." Jack didn't need to hear anymore. He opened the door and rolled inside. The gang member looked up in surprise, but Jack didn't give him any time to breathe. He leaped forward, pressing his forearm against the man's throat, choking him. The man feebly attempted to punch Jack in his guts, but he had tiny stick arms that did little to nothing at all. His eyes fluttered as the fight went out of him. Jack let him sink to the floor, alive but asleep. Jack stared at him. He was young, only about 18 or so.

"Los Muertos ends tonight," Jack growled.

"Agreed," Ana said amicably. "Wait… Jack, there's someth-" There was a sharp buzz, and Jack's earpiece gave him a small electric shock.

"Ana?" Jack hissed. "Ana! What's your status? Are you alright?" There was no reply. Jack cursed. He peeked through the Los Muertos members, still relaxing. Some were playing poker, or playing videogames on a flatscreen tv nearby. They weren't any immediate concern. Jack dragged the the two Los Muertos members he'd taken out away, hiding them in the ally behind the building. Then he raced down the street to help his partner.

* * *

A few streets away and about three stories up, Ana Amari was hiding behind a raised section of roof while under fire from six talon mercanaries. Two of them were in front of her, quickly approaching with shotguns. With each blast, they chipped away at her cover. If she poked her head out to fire off so much as a shot, the sniper would get in a headshot. Ana didn't yet know his location, but she guessed he was in front of her somehwere. There were a few vantage points that she could see that would be a good spot for a sniper.

She couldn't reach Jack either, her communications with him had been cut. She hoped he was on his way, but she didn't have time to wait for him.

Ana had an idea. The sniper would kill her if she poked her head out, or else the shotgunners would blast her away. She'd have to blindfire. She took out a special concoction that she'd "borrowed." It wouldn't hurt the mercenaries, not really, but it would greatly shrink their armour in seconds to the point of it popping off of them. She lobbed it over her head and waited for something to happen. There was crash, then one of the mercs said, "what the fu-" There was a tightening sound and then a popping sound, and finally, the sound of body armour clattering to the ground. There were ripping sounds too, as the liquid shrunk the mercs' clothing.

Ana heard the two shotgunners retreating, leaping back over the rooftops to their comrades in arms. Hopefully they wouldn't return. She tried her radio again.

"Jack, do you copy? I'm under fire." The was no reply. "Jack. Jack! Damn!" She squatted down, unsure of what to do. The Los Muertos gang members had heard the gunshots and were now arming themselves. There were a lot more than Ana had guessed, about twenty or so. More than she and Jack could handle between the two of them. They were severely outnumbered. For the first time in a long time, Ana Amari didn't know what to do.

Then, the answer presented itself in an interesting way. The Los Muertos gang members, who were now outside, saw the Talon airship hanging out in the sky and immediately assumed they were under attack. One of them grabbed a rocket launcher and fired it. Ana watched as the burning missile flew threw the air for a couple of seconds, leaving a trail of smoke behind a pillar of fire, before exploding into the side of the ship. The ship hurtled through the air, straight at a tall church tower. Coincidentally, this was the same tower the sniper was at. Ana took a peek and saw her enemies' gazes fixed not on her, but on the chaos. The ship crashed into the tower, which exploded. A burning Talon sniper jumped out of it, down several feet to his death.

Ana took the chance to strike back. She managed to get two down before they realized what was happening, but by the that time, something new and unexpected happened.

There was a heavy crash, one which threw the mercs in the air, some of them even got launched off the roof. One of them got to his feet, and upon seeing what had crashed down beside him, began to cheer, at least, until the OR-14 brought out a red hot blade and put it through the merc's stomach. Ana winced as the blade went all the way through, right out the back. The other mercenary still on the roof fired off a few rounds, but that did little to nothing at all to the omnic. It turned and marched forward a few feet to grab the mercenary by the throat. It raised the struggling soldier up, brought it's arm up to the soldier's face, and shot several rounds of lead into it. The OR-14 tossed the corpse away like a toy doll that it didn't want to play with anymore. Ana stared at it. It's head was damaged, sparking wires were sticking out of one side. Perhaps Talon had reprogrammed it to serve them, but something had gone wrong. It must've gotten damaged in the crash, and was now attacking everything in sight.

It leaped forward, crashing right on Ana's roof. She was blasted backwards, nearly falling off the roof. She grabbed the ledge right at the last second, but her rifle had escaped her grasp, clattering on the street below her. Not that it would have helped anyways, her darts were designed to specifically incapacitate human targets.

Ana looked up in fear and desperation as the OR-14 raised it's gun, directly as Ana's face. The barrel began to spin…


	2. Chapter 2: Unnecessary loss

Holding on to the edge of a roof of a building in Dorado, Mexico while having an OR14, a centaur like omnic, tower above her, Ana Amari could only come up with one plan. She let go.

She fell through the air, her coat flapping as she gained momentum. Her back was to the ground, her eyes still staring up at the menacing omnic, which was growing smaller and smaller. Then, with a sudden crash, Ana landed in a garbage bin full of trash bags. She bounced high, landing hard on the ground next to the bin. She groaned as she got up. The OR14 above her let out a mechanical howl, and to Ana's complete horror, jumped over the edge as well. Ana cursed in Arabic as she turned and sprinted, bending down low to pick up her rifle, which had fallen earlier. It would be useless against the omnic, she didn't have any live rounds, she used slow-acting poison darts, and poison only worked on organic beings.

Ana had just made to the end of the ally before the omnic crashed down on the ground, hard. It raised it's gun arm and fired at her, but Ana turned the corner, and shots whizzed past her, hitting the buildings across the street instead. All around here were confused Los Muertos members, who were starting to realize that they'd just fired on their allies. They yelled when they saw Ana, raising their guns. Ana raised her hands in surrender, but they didn't stay raised for long as the OR14 leaped forward, propelled by tiny rockets on it's four legs. It crashed down next to Ana, it's landing sending her flying. She tumbled four feet away and immediately rushed to get up. The Los Muertos members started firing at the OR14, but to the monstrous machine, it was probably like getting stung by a few dozen bees. They were using ballistic rounds. They needed Plasma to do true damage to the omnic, which, by the looks of it, was something they didn't have. However, one of them was carrying a rocket launcher. If he could just...

Ana raced towards him. Behind her, she heard the scream of a Los Muertos member as the OR14 picked him up. There was a sharp _crack,_ and his screams fell silent. She had to hurry. The Los Muertos members screamed insults at the robot, as though it cared. It fired away, taking down multiple members in quick succession. In the span of 30 seconds, their numbers went from two dozen to about 8 members.

Ana slammed into the guy carrying the rocket launcher, who'd been staring at the robot in fearful awe. He was young, only about 16 to 17. He hadn't seen the horrors of the Omnic war, at least, not the full effects of it. Ana wrestled with him, and when he resisted, she punched him in the face until he stopped. She was old, but she could still punch hard and fast. Behind her, the omnic claimed more lives. It brought out it's redhot steel sword, slicing a man's head clean off. It grabbed the shotgun barrel of somebody nearby, turning it upwards, before bringing the knife through their stomach, where it pierced through their spine. They wailed and screamed in agony as the omnic pulled it out of them, letting them drop down to the floor, only a few seconds of life left in them. Ana clenched her eyes shut. This was too much like the Omnic Crisis. Flashbacks emerged in her mind, things she'd tried to forget. She yelled and hoisted the rocket launcher on her shoulder, pulling the trigger.

Nothing happened. Panicked, Ana checked the launcher's barrel to see that it was empty. She spun around to face the unconscious teen she'd knocked out, but he didn't have any more rockets on him. Ana whirled around to see the OR14 standing above her, glaring down at her. All around her were the cooling corpses of the Los Muertos members. The cold, unfeeling machine had slaughtered them in all the span of two minutes. And Ana Amari was next on her list.

* * *

Jack Morrison had seen the Talon airship crash. He'd heard the screams of the talon mercs as... _Something_ killed them. A few had fallen off the building and gone _splat,_ except for one, though his leg was badly injured. Jack walked up to him and pressed his leg against the man's throat.

"You," he growled. "Where's my partner?" The merc didn't try to resist.

"Up... There," the man said as best as he could with the vigilante's leg on his adam's apple. There was a roar that sounded mechanical, and, a few seconds later, a giant crash.

"What is that thing?" Jack asked.

"Omnic," the man rasped. "Fights... For... Talon, but... Something... Went wrong..."

"Thanks," Jack said. Jack took his knee off the man, letting the man catch his breath before Jack bent low and snapped his neck with a sharp twist. Better safe than sorry. He raced back down the street, trying to follow the sound of the screams. There was gunfire, and more mechanical roars. Jack turned the corner, and he saw the chaos with his own eyes. Ana was there, in front of the machine, holding an unloaded rocket launcher. All around her were dead Los Muertos members. The Omnic had killed them all, which Jack didn't really have a problem with, but his partner was in danger. He raised his rifle and began firing away. Unlike the metal bullets the Los Muertos members had been using, Jack's Plasma rounds burned through the metal, doing actual damage. The Omnic noticed Jack, and in a split second, made a choice. It grabbed Ana and threw her through the window of a clothing store, where she slammed against the checkout desk, several shards of glass embedded in her coat. Then, it raised it's foot, bringing it down and smashing the skull of the sleeping teenage gang member beneath her. Blood splattered everywhere. Jack yelled with rage and fired three mini rockets at the machine. However, the Omnic was quick. It raised it's gun, firing at the rockets and exploding them in midair.

"Upgrades," Jack growled. "Damn Talon." He dove behind a car, firing away. The Omnic leaped forward, landing directly on the car. Jack rolled away just before it landed, backing up while continuing to shoot at it. "COME ON!" Jack roared.

From the shadows of the ally, Reaper watched in silence.

* * *

Sombra watched from a camera as the omnic tore the Los Muertos gang members apart. Her eyes twitched as the metal monster stuck it's blade though the stomach of a man on older than 20, coming out his back. It pulled the blade out, then tossed him aside on the street like he was nothing.

"Oh man, look at those suckers." Sombra turned to see a tall omnic with a green florescent skeleton tattoo on his body that provided dim light in the dark. He was wearing a white muscle shirt and raggy black jeans, but his feet were bare. Omnics didn't really need shoes. Sombra knew who he was.

"What do you want, Jack?" Sombra muttered.

"Oh nothing much," Jack said casually. "Say, have you seen Maria? I've been looking for her."

"Leave me alone, Jack," Sombra said, rubbing her temples.

"Oh come on Sombra, what, you don't like the one being taunted?" Jack said mockingly. "Well guess what? You deserve a lot more than a few taunts." Jack looked up at the screen, where the OR14 had finished killing off the Los Muertos gang and was now fighting soldier 76. Sombra wondered where Reaper was. "You know, it's funny, the men I once called brother turned on me and killed me, and now another omnic is killing them. It's almost like... Justice. Funny. Justice, for a criminal like me. But..." Jack swiveled his head around and stared at Sombra. "There's still one more who has to pay."

"You know what?" Sombra spit at him. "Go fuck yourself, Jack. I told you to take Maria and get out. You stayed because of your blind faith in the group. That was on you, not me." Jack remained silent, but tapped his arm. Finally he got up and walked to the door, but turned around to say one more thing.

"You're right, Sombra. But somebody else needs your help now. Are you gonna let them die too?"

"I don't care about them," Sombra said.

"I know you don't. But what about her?" Sombra looked back at the screen. A teenage girl with a green shirt and braided pigtails was crouched low, watching Jack Morrison fight the metal monster. Sombra knew her, sort of. Sombra was a regular customer at her bakery. _What are you doing?!_ Sombra thought. She turned back to face Jack, but he was gone. Sombra looked back at the screen.

 _Goddammit,_ she thought.

* * *

Jack had tried, but he could do no more. The monster had gotten close enough to grab him, throwing him through a brick well. There was three bullets in his leg, and two more in his left shoulder. He sat against the brick wall, waiting for his end. The OR14 stomped up to him, raising it's gun arm. Jack stared defiantly as it as barrel began to spin.

But it never fired. The OR14 suddenly received fire from the back. It turned around, where Jack saw, to his utter surprise, Reaper, firing away at the omnic. The OR14 fired at him, but he expertly rolled and jumped over it's line of fire. He ran up to it, dodging it's swinging blade arm, and climbed onto it's back. He tried pulling out the sparking wire in it's head, but it suddenly grabbed him, slammed him on the ground, and as Jack watched, impaled him, right in the chest. Reaper groaned once, shuddered, and laid still.

"Gabe..." Jack rasped. The OR14 turned, observing Jack. It stepped forward once, then, to Jack's surprise, it jumped up and away. It was...

"Retreating," Ana rasped. Jack turned to see her staggering forward, pulling bloody pieces of glass out of her body. "I've... Never seen any omnic model do that before..."

"That's because it's learning." Jack weakly raised his rifle, pointing it at the sound. He saw a young latino lady in a purple leather coat casually leaning against the wall. Not too far away was a familiar face; Alejandra watched them all timidly from behind a mail box.

"Kid," Jack called out to her. "Go home."

"I can help," she protested, running forward. "My mom can stitch you up."

"I say we take it," Ana said immediately. "I don't hear any sirens, but we want to be out of here before we come across the authorities. Tomorrow, this is going to be on the news, perhaps global news." Ana put her Shrike mask on, concealing her face.

"You," Jack muttered with pain as Ana picked him up. "You said... It was learning. What... Do you mean?"

"I mean, old man, that this OR14 is an improved model. It can do more things. Talon probably equipped it with some visual and audio recognition software that can pick up combat tactics. It was wounded, so it ran away, probably to repair itself."

"Can it do that...?" Jack asked uncertainly.

"Yes," Sombra said immediately. "Go to the bakery. I need to drag him away." Jack watched as the woman grabbed Reaper's legs, pulling him into the ally. Within a minute, the sounds faded away. She was gone.

"Who was that?" Jack muttered.

"That was Sombra, she's a customer at my store." Alejandra said. "Now come on. The bakery is this way!" She grabbed Jack's hand, dragging him along down the street. Behind them, Ana took a regretful look at all the dead bodies around her.

 _Such a waste of life,_ Ana thought. She bent down to the boy she'd knocked down. His skull had been crushed, bone fragments and blood was everywhere.

"I'm... I'm sorry," she whispered. She walked past the dead bodies, determined to keep moving, ignoring the cracks beneath her feet as she stepped in blood and pieces of bone. Ana clenched her fists. This had been Talon's doing. Ana had survived the Omnic Crisis, but for what? For _this?_ One way or another, Talon had to be brought down.

Alejandra and Jack reached the bakery, with Ana close behind. Alejandra's mother gasped when she saw Jack, recognizing him from the posters around the city. She had cinnamon colored hair that was loose and hanging around her shoulders., with cautious brown eyes. She was young, no older than 35, at the most.

"Hello there,"Ana said.

"Alejandra, what- who-"

"They're hurt mama," Alejandra said, gesturing to Jack's wounds. "This man will if you don't help him." That wasn't technically true. Jack could very well removed the bullets himself, and thanks to the fact that he'd been a test guinea pig, he would heal in 4 to 5 days with some new scars. But he didn't say anything. They still needed a place to lie low.

"Right, just... bring them to the basement," Alejandra's mother ordered. Alejandra did as she was told, pulling Jack down the stairs and laying him on a mattress.

"I can take care of him, I just need medical supplies," Ana told Alejandra's mother. Looking extremely relieved, Alejandra's mother handed Ana's mother some bandages, needles and alcohol. Ana went downstairs, where Jack was groaning. His jacket and shirt was off, but his pants were still on, Jack wasn't about to fully strip in front of a child.

"Would you be so kind as to give me and my friend some space, darling?" Ana asked the girl. She nodded her head vigorously and ran up the stairs, but not before pausing at the top to tell them to shout if they were hungry. Then she was gone.

"Alright Jack, take off your pants," Ana commanded him.

"Getting a little feisty, Ana?" Jack joked.

"Don't be gross, Jack." Ana took Jack's lighter from his jacket, lighting up the tip of the needle and holding it there for a about a minute. "Alright. This is going to hurt."

"Like everything else in my life," Jack said with a sigh. He winced as Ana stitched the wounds, right after she poured alcohol on them, of course. She'd taken care to wash her own hands in some hand sanitizer before doing all this. She managed to stitch the wounds up fairly quickly and effectively, while Jack drank from the bottle. The shoulder was more sensitive, which meant for that part, Jack was breathing heavily and biting his tongue to keep from yelling. The leg was easier though, less pain. That wasn't meant there was _no_ pain, however.

"Alright I'm done," Ana said, throwing away the needle. She took the bottle from Jack and finished it off, then sat down besides him. "What are we going to do about the omnic?"

Jack's reply was a typical Jack Morrison awnser.

"We're going to kill it, and then, we're going to go after the people that let it loose on this city, and we're going to kill them, too."

* * *

About a mile away, hidden in the sewers, the OR14 was steadily repairing itself. It reconnected the wires in it's head, but it still wasn't the same. It no longer served Talon. It was an omnic reborn, an omnic with a new purpose. It would catch the prey that escaped it. It would hunt them down and kill them, and then, it would turn it's attention to this city.

 _"Hola? Que es esto?"_ The OR14 turned it's head into a beam of light, emitted by a flashlight. On the other side of the light, an elderly Dorado sewage worker's eyes widened as he recognized the machine before him.

Under the streets of the city, nobody could hear his screams as the machine ripped him apart.


	3. Chapter 3: Story time

"Ugh..."

"Hey edgelord," Sombra said to a waking Reaper. She was hunched over her computer screen, working on stuff. Next to her, Reaper began to stir, groaning as his spine popped. "So, last night was interesting. Especially that part where you saved the dude you supposedly hate."

"I didn't save him," Reaper muttered. "When I was done with the omnic, I was going to kill him next... I just didn't want it to be stolen from me. Out of all the names on the list, he's the one I want to cross off personally."

"Right," Sombra said in a disbelieving tone, though she really did believe him. She could understand what he'd told her. And there was no doubt in her mind that he hated Jack Morrison. She'd only seen Reaper kill a former Overwatch agent once before, a spectacle she didn't want to see again. He'd taken the man's head and smashed it into the mirror ten times, before taking a shard of glass and slitting the man's throat with it. It was gruesome and unnecessarily violent. A simple neck snap would have been quicker and cleaner, and usually, with anybody else, that was how Reaper did things, but not with personal vendettas. "So, what now, boss?"

"We find out where they are," Reaper muttered. "And we kill them. Both of them. I'm done with this idiotic games."

"It's funny," Sombra said. "Every time you get close to killing him, something interferes. The first time, in Switzerland, the bomb went off before you finished him. Then, it was your captain. Now, a crazed omnic."

"Luck," Reaper insisted.

"Maybe," Sombra mused. "Maybe. Anyhoo, I can't find where they are. They've hidden themselves well." That was a lie. She knew exactly where they were; in the bakery. She wasn't about to Reaper that though. She didn't care whether or not Jack Morrison and Ana Amari died, but she didn't want the bakery's owner to die, or her daughter. They were innocent in every sense of the word. Plus, they made good cookies. Reaper probably wouldn't kill them, but she didn't want to take any chances. Reaper had killed civilians before when they'd gotten in his way. She'd not yet seen him kill a child, but she wasn't entirely sure if he was above that line or not. She was a little curious to find out, but not so curious as to test the theory. Reaper was fun to mock when he was in a calmer mood, but when he was already riled up, he was a dangerous, unpredictable beast.

"Fine," Reaper said. They both knew that Sombra was lying, but Reaper decided to put it aside for later. "Where's the omnic?"

"I don't know that either. Either it tore out it's tracker, or the tracker was damaged or destroyed. It was damaged when it fled... But the fact that it fled when it was damaged shows that it's getting smarter. Just how much did Talon upgrade it?"

"Too much," Reaper growled as he got up. His wounds from the previous night were still there. Reaper didn't heal naturally, he had to kill something, sap it's life force from it. Even a single cut wouldn't close up on it's own, though Reaper would never bleed to death. Sombra didn't really know if he could die or not. She had various bits of information from Talon's database. Reaper's cells had lost the ability to heal on their own, they were in a constant state of chaos, rapidly aging and yet mending themselves. But they couldn't just fix themselves just like that, they needed energy. Without energy, Reaper entered a state of what could almost be described as starvation. He'd get incredibly weak and would endure intense amounts of pain until he killed something, taking it's life force. It would be anything from a squirrel to another person. The larger the living object, the more life force. In some cases, after Reaper had killed multiple fulls, his whole form would start smoking, overflowing with the life force of others. When this happened, he'd move lighting fast, and bullets didn't even seem to faze him. When he was this full of life, he was truly horrifying. But it was harder for him to reach that point. Watching him struggle to get up, Sombra knew he needed something alive. Luckily, she'd planned ahead.

"There's a couple of mangy dogs outside," Sombra told Reaper. "I lured them in with some eat. Just, do it quickly." Sombra felt bad about killing innocent dogs, especially ones who'd looked up to her with eyes full of hope and adoration when she showed them she had warm, nice bowls of spaghetti and meatballs. Reaper grunted and staggered to the door, fumbling with the knob for a second before collapsing onto the street. Sombra waited tensely. She heard a yelp, scampering paws, then a couple of nasty snaps, before there was there was a faint sound, like wind blowing, only there was an unsettling whisper to it. Reaper entered Sombra's base again, fully restored. To her surprise, he sighed regretfully, as though he'd hated killing the dogs. Since she had little else to do, Sombra decided to explore this.

"So, how did those dogs taste? Was it... Doggone good?"

"Please, Sombra." Sombra's fingers froze on her keyboard. Reaper never said please.

"Hey Gabe," Sombra murmured. "Remember that time, a long time ago, when you and I first met? It was before you and me joined Talon."

"We never met before Talon," Reaper said.

"Yes we did. You probably didn't recognize me, but it was here, in Dorado. I was the green girl." Reaper fell silent, but thanks to the reflection of the computer screen, Sombra saw that he'd turned his head a fraction of an inch. He was listening. "I was in Los Muertos at the time, about 19 years old. The gang was different then, but it was coming to closer to what it was today. The gang was inching towards a civil war. Your Blackwatch team coming to Dorado was what started it all. It was just you, McCree, Genji and some other couple guys."

"Right," Reaper confirmed. "So, where was our interaction, then?" He was interested. They were actually bonding right now. However, the thought was so incredibly weird to Sombra that she immediately put it out of her mind.

"Hold on, I'm getting to that part," Sombra replied. "Oh right, I remember their names. There were 3 other guys, Jared, Leo and a french guy named Gerard. He wasn't actually an official part of the team, right?"

"No, he was," Reaper confirmed with a sigh. "He just didn't usually go out on field missions. This was an exception, though. This was just after Talon had kidnapped his wife, and since Los Muertos had dealings with Talon before, he was hoping they'd know something. Short story was-"

"-They didn't," Sombra answered for him. "Right. Anyways though, back to the story..."

* * *

 **11 years ago**

"Right. We're heading into a near lawless city here. Gerard, I want you to stay with Jared and Leo. If and when an interrogation takes place, you can oversee it. Hell, you can do it yourself if you want."

Gerard Lacroix nodded, his face set in stone. Gabriel felt a twinge of sympathy for him. The man had lost his wife, and was worried sick. Who knew what was happening to her. He was braving this mission for her, even though he only had basic training with only a few guns. All he had on him now was a knife, a submachine gun with a laser dot sight and a pistol, as well as four smoke grenades on his belt. A black bulletproof vest with the Blackwatch emblem stitched on the shoulders would protect him from some gunfire, but it wouldn't save him. Gabriel had insisted he stayed behind, but Gerard wasn't having any of it.

The ship lurched a few time as the pilot brought it down for a landing on top of a building. The doors slid open, and the Blackwatch team clambered out of it. Genji crept out quietly and instantly took off, leaping across the rooftops, as he'd been instructed to by Gabe. The Los Muertos gang leaders were at a club tonight. Genji was meant to take out guards on the roof. McCree and Gabriel could handle those inside. Jared and Leo would follow behind, but their main priority was to protect Gerard.

"Alright, this way." Gabriel entered the building they were on through a door on the rooftop, quickly descending down the stairs to the lowest floor. It was a simple car dealership building, and as it was about 2 in the morning, it was closed. With McCree on his heels, (literally, bumping into Gabriel every time he stopped or even slowed down), Gabriel bent down low, crouchwalking as fast as he could through the mostly deserted streets of Dorado. They stuck to the allies, trying to attract the least amount of attention possible.

A few stories above and a few streets away, Genji had reached the strip club, which was across the street from him. There were two men on the roof, one peeing off the side, and another looking at a naughty magazine. This was going to be easy. Genji leaped up into the air, his metal legs giving him an extreme advantage. Once in the air, he landed on the tip of a lightpole for just a second, using it to launch himself in the air towards his enemies. Pulling out his sword in midair, Genji landed near the man taking a piss. With a swift swing, the man's headless body tumbled over the edge, down into the ally below. There a cat's frightened yowl in response to the headless corpse that had just landed in front of it, but nobody else on the street heard the sound, or else didn't react to it. The man with the magazine had heard the swing of the sword, and began to turn around, but he never even got his head turned a quarter of the way. Genji leaped over to him, stabbing him through the chair he was sitting in. The man groaned, but Genji quickly slapped a hand over his mouth, silencing him. He held it there while the life leaked out of him.

"Gabriel, the roof is clear," Genji informed Gabe, who'd arrived at the club.

"Copy that." Gabriel observed the assailants on the street. There were two men outside, standing in front of the doorway. "Genji, there's two in front of the door. Do a quick check and make sure there wasn't anybody else. Genji did so, and thirty seconds later, dropped down right on top of one of the guards, jumping off his head twirling in the air while throwing 3 shurikens at the other guard, which struck him in his chest. He staggered back, trying to raise his gun, but he fell onto his back. Gabe rushed over while Genji easily dispatched the other man, punching him in the gut and then stabbing him in the small of his neck while he bent down, gasping for air. Gabe reached the other downed gang member, placed his knee on his neck and held it there while the man choked to death. Strike Commander Jack Morrison words struck Gabe then. _Alive if possible, Gabe._ Yeah, right. That was one of Overwatch's rules. Blackwatch didn't have any. That was what made it the more powerful branch.

Gabe could hear the party through the doors. The DJ was playing some sort of techno music. The "club" was an old warehouse, with the only windows being on the roof. After circling around, Gabe found a backdoor.

"Alright, Jared, you take the lead on this one," Gabe ordered. Jared, Leo and Gerard were the only ones with silenced weapons. Genji's were technically silent, but his sword and shurikens had a red glow.

"You got it boss," Jared whispered. He placed his hand on the door and silently counted to three before quickly turning it and throwing the door open. On the other side, four men were playing poker, with a fifth by a door in the room, rolling a blunt. Jared raised his weapon, laying fire down on all of them. Leo did the same, aiming for the man by the door. One of the men got up as his companions were shot down, pulling out a small silver pistol, but Gerard fired off a few rounds, hitting the man in the chest. He staggered back, tripping over his chair and falling on the floor. The Blackwatch team quickly entered, shutting the door behind them and turning off the one light in the room. They were engulfed in darkness, with only the glow from Genji's mechanical suit to help them see.

"So, what now, boss?" McCree asked.

"All six of Los Muertos's leaders should be here," Gabe said. "One of them has to know something. There's no easy way to do this, so, McCree, you go in first, throw a couple flashbangs. Genji, you go up to the roof and drop down from above. Jared, Leo, kill anybody who isn't a civilian or a gang leader. Gerard, just stay put."

"Solid plan, I like it," McCree commented. Genji left the room, climbing up the warehouse and taking position up on the roof. Gabe counted down on his fingers, and the team burst out the door. Gabe fired off two rounds from his left shotgun into the air as they charged in, causing immediate screams and panic through the warehouse. There were lots of gang members, probably around 80 to 100, Gabe wasn't sure. He began firing away, killing everything in front of him. Something primitive and powerful seemed to take hold of Gabriel, and he lose all control. The change didn't go unnoticed by the others. McCree watched out of the corner of his eyes as his boss charged at a man, slamming into him and stomping on his face until there was nothing under boot but red mush.

Out of nowhere, a girl with the custom green, glowing los muertos tattoos ran up behind Leo. Gabe and McCree were turned away, giving her a chance. She brought her uzi up to his pine, and with a pull of the trigger, let loose a hail of bullets that shattered it in a matter of seconds. Leo let out an animal howl, staggering forward and holding his belly, which was spurting out blood like a damaged water fountain. He collapsed, shuddering horribly. The girl let him die in agony, choosing to focus on the others rather than end his suffering quickly. All around her was the corpses of those who had been alive mere moments ago; both civilian and gangbanger. The girl felt little pity for any of them. She paused, crouched, hiding below the gunfire. Several civilians were hiding under it as well, covering their heads with their hands. They'd come here for a good time, and now, they were at the risk of dying. Now that Overwatch was after them, was Los Muertos's reward higher than the risk?

The girl decided that it was not. She crouchwalked across the floor, towards a certain omnic, Jack Tulay. He was covering a girl with his arms, shielding her from the gunfire. He was one of the leaders of Los Muertos, and the girl's best friend, which was a less pathetic way of saying he was her only friend. Friends, with an nonliving creature. In a warehouse filled with gunfire and death, the girl laughed to herself.

"Jack," the girl hissed to her. "Take Maria and get out of here. After all this is over, if you aren't already dead... This is the the fuse for the powder keg. The others will kill you and all the other omnics."

"No," Jack replied in a monotone voice. It was deep and raspy, and had only a slight metallic tinge to it. "I have more faith in the group. If they ask me to leave, I will, but I won't abandon them."

"Jack, are you blind?!" the girl hissed. "We've been fighting about it for months now. The group's turning anti-omnic. You need to leave."

"Nah, amiga," Jack said with a shake of his head. "I need to stay. _We_ need to stay, we need to take these guys out."

"Maria!" The girl begged. "Talk sense to him!" Behind Jack, two frightened eyes peeked at Sombra. Jack's wife, Maria. She was gorgous, wearing white sugar skull makeup on, with a painted black lips and blue skull eye lines around her pretty blue eyes, with flowing black hair that she let grow to her shoulders.

"I-I trust Jack," Maria whispered.

The girl stared at them in disbelief. Then she shook it off, and crawled past them. And just like that, she was gone, but not before taking an interested look at the man in center of all the chaos. Black bodyguard, with blood all over him, wielding two shotguns and roaring like a maniac. She tabled that image away in her mind for later. Maybe this man could be useful to her. Then, she left the warehouse, never to return to it or the Los Muertos group ever again.

"Shit, looks like we got 'em all," McCree stated.

"Not this one," Gabe growled, kicking a wounded man leaning against the wall. He had taken a bullet to the stomach, and had simply laid there, watching the carnage unfold.

"You in charge here?" McCree asked, bending down low.

"I am," the man confirmed. He was big, well over six feet tall, and packing some serious muscle. Not that that mattered anyways.

"Well, we're here to ask some questions," Jared said, stepping in. "And since you guys killed Leo, we're not exactly in a good mood. So you better awnser us pretty goddamn quick. Did your partner Talon tell you anything about a french woman?"

"No," the man said.

"Are you sure about that?" Gabe said, raising his shotgun's barrel to meet the man's eyes. "We can refresh your memory if you're not sure."

"No, they didn't tell us anything about that. Not that I'd tell you anyways."

"I believe you," Gabe said with a nod. He pulled the trigger, splattering the man's head all over the walls. McCree reacted first- and was the only one to do so, in fact, though Gerard gave a little shudder at the sight.

"What in the hell?! Gabe, you didn't need to kill that man!"

"Yes I did," Gabe said. "I had to. These are criminal scum, Jesse."

"I used to be criminal scum, Gabe," McCree said, getting up in his face.

"Then you're lucky I was in a good mood when I met you," Gabe replied in a scary calm voice. For a moment, McCree saw something else in his bosses's eyes. Something different. It was colder. It was all the things McCree hated about Gabe wrapped into one, without a trace of the good things he'd come to appreciate about his boss. He didn't like it.

Far away from the warehouse, the girl was in a bathroom in the bakery, washing off all her makeup. She looked up at the mirror, her hair tumbling down around her head. It was time for a new job. She sighed, pinching her nose. There was one she could think of. A small smile began to play on her lips.

* * *

"Huh," Reaper said with a grunt. "Technically, we didn't meet, because I didn't see you."

"I saw you though," Sombra said as she leaned back in her chair. "I saw the real you."

"You don't know the real me, Sombra," Reaper said softly. "And you never will."

* * *

"¡Eres un idiota!" A construction worker doubled over in laughter as his friend took a piss in the manhole that lead down to the sewers.

"Un hombre tiene que orinar cuando un hombre tiene que orinar," the man's friend replied with a shrug. They were in an empty street which was blocked off to traffic so that they could fix a few potholes in the road. As his friend finished up, the construction worker turned away, sniffling with laughter. Suddenly, he heard his friend, scream, cut short by a nasty snap. He whirled around to see a large, mechanical hand reach out of the sewers. He backed away, stuttering. The beast climbed out of the sewers, a mechanical him coming out of it. In it's hand, it held the limp body of the construction worker's friend, his head twisted completely around. The body slid from it's hand, dropping down into the sewers with an empty splash. The omnic stood high above the man, and slowly, a redhot sword extended from it's arm. The man fell down, raising his hands to plead for mercy, but it was for nought. With a quick slash, the man's body fell over, now just two large pieces.

Farther down the street, a smoker saw the whole thing and screamed, bringing out her cellphone and calling the police. The OR14 heard her and leaped after her, landing heavily on the spot she'd just been. She attempted to run, but the robot merely shot her down. Nearby, the owner of a liqour store came barging out, shooting at the omnic with a doublebarrel shotgun. The omnic returned fire, reducing the man to a smoking pile of bloody red meat. All around the robot, people were beginning to notice the terror standing in their streets. Doors were bolted shut, windows were closed. In the distance, sirens wailed. The OR14 watched as a police car swerved around the corner, approaching it rapidly. The OR14 jumped, flying through the air for a moment before it landed right on top of the car. The driver sailed out of the window, right into the waiting blade of the omnic. He gasped as the blade slid through his lungs. The omnic pulled him off with the other arm, flinging him to the side. It looked on down the street, where more civilians were attempting to flee. It leaped after them, determined to kill every living thing in sight.


End file.
